I was going though some old papers I wrote as a kid in 6th grade and I came upon one where I wrote about Nintendo's upcoming system "Project Reality" and why it was better than the Sega Saturn - don't ask me why I didn't include the PS1 in the comparison as I have no clue, I might not had played a PS1 by that point (around '95-96).

Looking at it now it's pretty funny how one-sided these “rants” and “scribblings” of mine are, but it reminded me of how excited I was about the N64. As affordable as the N64 was boasted to be I didn't get one that Christmas and by next year I had switched sides (I blame Lara Croft and her acrobatic boobs, err moves, yeah moves...) and got a PS1 with FF7 and TRII instead.

There are a few other hilarious writings, about how cool I thought Mortal Kombat 3 was when it came out for the SNES and how mad I was when I lent my MMX2 cart out to a friend and he lent it to another person I didn't know (I mean come on, it was a $70 cart!)

...anyway, what's your fondest memory or biggest disappointment from the N64 launch or overall?

Fondest memory - Playing Smash Brothers for the first time. Nothing like it at the time and it was a blast playing it with 3 other people.

Biggest Disappointment - Probably my first time playing Zelda: OOT.* Just...hated it. This was later on, with the GC collection, so after 4 years of wondering about the hype, I was eager to see what the hype was about. In a way, it validated my decision to go with the PS1 4-5 years earlier, but I was hoping for more than what I got.

In general, I was never a fan of the N64's small library, controller and lack of variety compared to the PS1. I was tempted several times to pick one up, but I held off. There's a handful of games I'm interested in trying though (Goemon's Adventure, Kirby, F-Zero X, Blast Corps).

*Please, no follow-up comments to this.

Best memory: Ocarina of Time, and Jet Force Gemini. Not enough time to go into detail why I loved them (those who played and even remotely liked either will know immediately, anyways).

Better than the Saturn? Not by a longshot. Just my opinion, though.

Biggest diappointment would have to be when I found out that Square wasn't going to be making N64 games.  I was pretty pissed about that at the time, especially since I didn't have a regular job and couldn't afford to get a PSX and an N64.  By the time FF7 came out, I got a regular job and a PSX, so it all worked out in the end.  Other disappointments were how much of a joke some of the hyped up arcade games like Killer Instinct and Cruis'n USA were.  And let's not forget thet crap that was Shadows of the Empire, the first Smash Bros., and Yoshi's Story.

Fondest memory?  I don't think I could pick just one.  I have so many fond N64 memories.  The system may not have had many games, but some of the games it had were truly amazing.  From Mario 64's showing the world how 3D platformers could actually work to Blast Corps' technical gameplay to Wave Race 64's near perfection to Mario Kart 64 and GoldenEye's unstoppable multiplayer fun, the first year of the N64 alone was pretty incredible.  Later games like the three N64 Mario Parties, Perfect Dark, Paper Mario, Conker, Robotron 64, Goemon's Great Adventure, and Rayman 2 kept delivering.  And that's to say nothing of the FANTASTIC N64 Zelda games, the first of which is one of the best adventure games ever made.

My biggest disappointment was playing Killer Instinct (Gold or whatever it was) near launch and seeing how aesthetically inferior it was to the arcade version.  I was big into CG graphics at the time and they completely lacked the polish of the arcade version, despite running on supposedly identical "Ultra 64" hardware.

Other significant disappointments include Starfox 64 and Zelda Ocarina of Time, although obviously many people swear by them.

Fond memories include playing Mario 64 for the first time at a Toys R Us display and multi-player Waverace.  Granted I missed out on the Smash Brothers and Goldeneye crazes, but my fondest memories for the generation definitely lie with the Saturn.

My fondest memory has to be watching Mario64 running for the first time. I didn't even get to play it but there was a display unit in a shop and it just looked amazing. So vibrant and so smooth. I was blown away by it.

I guess my biggest disappointment was really a very slow realisation that my N64 was gathering dust when releases started to really slow up. I loved the machine for a few games but never felt the software lived up to the potential that Mario64 demonstrated on day one.

I think when your younger you're more apt to pick one side and stick with it instead of taking what all the systems offer into consideration... do not worry though, looking back I appreciate the Saturn and quite a few of its titles these days.

Edit:

My biggest dissapointment was Metroid was a no-show on the console, breaking the one game per console/generation concept that was the standard up until then.

I was a long time subscriber to Nintendo Power magazine, so I had been salivating about the release for some time. Also, Nintendo used to send subscribers VHS tapes; it was the N64 tapes that made me happier than a prisoner dry cornholing a fellow inmate. This was the summer of 1996, shortly prior to the N64 launch and something happened that facilitated my ability to access information - I got the internet. Of course, I didn't get it, but that's how we say it. So, in conjunction with my NP magazines and the VHS tapes, I could now look at many more images and read far more elaborate speculations. Suffice to say, I was hyped. I was 20 years old.

Super Mario 64 was my life for nearly two months. I had never played a 3D game before and given my imagination, it was fuel like nothing else. After beating the game, I beat it again. I then tried to find unique ways to get the stars. After having exhausted that game, I started annoying the local toy stores. Wave Race 64 was on the horizon and after that was Shadows of the Empire. I summarily completed both before Christmas of '96. The launch of the N64 and the following months are very clear. But the years start compressing after that, and confabulation shuffles coalitions of neurons around. I can't tell you the precise order in which I obtained games starting in '97, but the highlights I remember. 

No game provided the shock value of Mario 64, since it was the first.

I loved the N64, so I don't want to make it seem like I'm taking sides even now. I just loved the Saturn that much more. Was sad to see how badly it failed.

GFX: F-ZERO X is awesome.  It has to be the best racing game ever, at least, its my favourite.  Blast Corps. is a lot of fun.

You know, I was initially sceptical of the N64.  I loved my SNES (and VB) to death, and I was getting cheesed off that less and less coverage was being dedicated to them in Nintendo Power.  I would proudly proclaim to my friends, "just because its 3D, it doesn't mean it looks as good" or something (ironically, considering some N64 games this still holds true!)  But then I saw Mario Kart 64 (sequel to one of my very first SNES games... I think fourth or fifth) at a kiosk at a toy store, and I commited to get one for my birthday right away.  So much for principles!

Best memories:  Goldeneye was the most multiplayer fun I've ever had.  Super Smash Bros. is the only time me and my sisters and even my mum (!) would play together.  F-ZERO X and Mario Kart 64 are among the first games I time trialed specifically and got me involved in that style of playing, alongside all of N64 racing games.  Even more recently, I bought Mario 64 much later then most people: it was like my, ninth or tenth game and several years after launch, and LOVED that, Star Fox 64 I only bought within the last five years and played the hell out of that.  Even Wave Race 64, which I only bought also in the last five years, has now become one of my most favourite racing games.  It seems sometimes, that there is nothing I don't love about this console!